It is a shocking indictment of the system that the 85 richest people on the planet own as much money as the world’s bottom half, and in Europe the top 10 richest people have a combined wealth of €217bn – reveals Natalia Alonso.

It was US President Benjamin Franklin who said, in 1789, "In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." Oh how times have changed – at least for a minority. While in the past 200 years, the economic elite have not yet found a way to cheat death, they have been masterful at dodging paying their fair dues in tax.

Emerging from the financial crisis, the global economy is strengthening. Yet around the world most people are still being excluded from opportunities to better themselves and achieve prosperity. Increasingly the biggest benefits of growth are being captured instead by a tiny elite. We live in a world where the 85 richest people own the wealth of half of the world’s population.

While disagreements over Syria are likely to dominate the annual G20 Summit in St Petersburg this week, leaders are at least in agreement about one key issue on the table: the need to rewrite global corporate tax rules.

Corruption, extortion and money laundering will be on the agenda this week (Feb 25-26) when the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group meets in Moscow. They will have to act decisively and strongly to stem the flood of dirty money bleeding poor countries dry.